


Not Your Boyfriend

by GalifreyGal



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-14 14:26:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2195172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalifreyGal/pseuds/GalifreyGal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara and Twelve return from an adventure, and the recurring 'I'm not your boyfriend' theme makes another appearance, with so many more feels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Your Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> My first story on AO3, so please forgive the layout and general lack of knowledge about how the site works. Thanks, and enjoy!

The duo stumbled through the doors of the TARDIS, gasping for air, scrambling to get as far away from outside as possible. Clara remained by the door, bent double, breathing heavily, while the Doctor was all of a sudden by the controls. He pressed buttons and flipped switches left and right, sending the Type Forty tumbling through time and space.

When both human and Time Lord were sure they were safe, Clara made her way up to the main console, still panting a little. Her brown hair was strewn around her head like a crazy, dark halo of frizz. Meanwhile, the Doctor had almost made a complete recovery. The only sign he'd just been running for his life was his tousled grey hair and dusty black coat.

"What is with your obsession with dinosaurs?!" Clara exclaimed all of a sudden. The Doctor watched her circle the console, but still remain a little distant. It made him wince. She still wasn't used to him. The idea worried him. It didn't usually take this long for a companion to get used to the new him. Perhaps he was just too different. Of course, he remained silent.

"Seriously, you almost got us killed! _Twice_! The Doc-" Clara stopped herself short. She bit the inside of her cheek. She'd almost said way too much.

Unfortunately, the Doctor knew exactly what she had been about to say. ' _The Doctor would never put us in that much danger._ ' The Time Lord found himself growing surprisingly angry at the thought.

"I am not that Doctor anymore, Clara. I'm sorry that it upsets you so much, but that's just how it works." The Doctor turned away from her, leaning his back against the console and using it to steady himself.

"I know! I know that's how it works, Doctor, and I know you're not my boyfriend! You've given me that speech a million times, and it's getting old!" Clara's eyes shone with unshed tears as her voice began to rise.

"Then perhaps it's time for a new speech." The Doctor's voice was dangerously low. "I am not that Doctor anymore. I know it hurts. I can only imagine how much it hurts, but I have to say it, and I'm sorry. I don't love you."

Silence followed this admission. Clara stared wide-eyed at the new Doctor, her heart frozen in place. 

"I don't love you. Not the way he did, anyway." The Time Lord explained, his voice still quiet.

"Y-you mean... He- you- my Doctor..." Clara stumbled over her words a little. The Doctor flinched at 'my Doctor'. "...Loved me?" 

The Doctor exhaled slowly.

"Yes. He did." He lowered his eyes to the dark shoes that covered his feet. "I'm sorry he never told you, but I can't say I blame him." Images of beaches and blank, unforgiving walls filled his mind. Admitting to such emotions only led to heartache in the Doctor's experience. 

Referring to his past self like he was another person felt strange to the Doctor, but it was the best way to get the idea across to Clara. He may be the Doctor, but he did not carry forward the emotions of his predecessor.

From the mixed emotions flooding Clara's facial features, she was having a hard time processing the information. With a sigh, the Doctor turned back to the controls and tapped away at a screen, followed by pressing a button or two.

Clara stared at nothing. Her Doctor had loved her. Her Doctor had felt the same way. Of course he did. How did she not know for certain?

Her heart ached. She had a chance with him, but now it was too late and all she had was the new Doctor. He was good and clever and funny, but he wasn't Clara's Doctor.

The Twelfth Doctor hid his pain well. His own companion -- his Impossible Girl. The first face this face saw. Clara Oswin Oswald. She was so caught up in her love for his old face that she hated him for taking her Doctor away. She didn't outwardly say it, but he knew.

The Doctor and his companion flew through the time vortex in silence. 


End file.
